Freshman class will re-vote to elect the rising sophomore class board amid allegations of ‘ethical infractions’
April 29, 2019
Starting on Monday, April 29, the freshman class will be given paper ballots with the names of the current candidates for board positions. This process will be held during personalization periods on both Burgundy and Silver days.
“It is not a re-election, is is a re-vote,” Student Government Association Adviser Danielle Driscoll said. “Students will be given the option of whether or not they want to vote. Those who do will then be given the ballots, sign a roster stating they voted, which will be verified via student IDs.”
Each personalization class will be visited by Driscoll in order to collect the ballots and oversee the process itself. Once all votes have been collected at the end of the day on April 30, each and every ballot will be counted individually with the help of the administration. Due to the fact that only a re-vote is being held, there will be no campaigning done by the candidates.
As SGA advisor for the past ten years, Driscoll has never witnessed a situation calling for a re-vote. This is being held due to what has been deemed an “ethical infraction” by administration. However, administration has declined to comment on the specifics of the “ethical infraction.”
“My personal opinion is that if someone was unethical in the election, they shouldn’t be able to run,” Assistant Principal Daniel Leuchtman said. “Seeing as this is the first time this has happened, I’m hoping it is also the last.”
While it is not clear what exactly took place during the election week, a re-vote has been decided as the best option to make sure the student body is able to accurately choose who they want as their class board in the following school year.
The original voting process allowed students to vote online at EagleVoting.org. It requires students to log in with their student number and individual password. Several rumors have been brought to the attention of the administration, including the possibility that individuals voted from other students phones or used other students’ credentials to vote.
However, none of these claims have been verified with evidence. Therefore, there is no way of knowing if anything actually happened, and who may have been the guilty party, so there will be no punishment for the “ethical infraction.”
Most students feel that re-voting is exactly what needs to happen due to the current problems the election has caused.
“I get the reasons why there has to be a re-vote; high school is very competitive,” freshman Erika Ryan said. “I’m just glad that people have another chance to vote. Most of my friends agree that this is the right thing to do.”
With no way of knowing what truly happened during election week, if anything, a re-vote has been deemed the best solution by both administrative and the student body in order to keep the election process fair.
The results of the other two class board votes – the rising junior and senior classes – have not been contested. Those election results will stand.